


this wild life

by starlight_sugar



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, Alternate Universe - Veterinarians, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-06-10 10:21:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6952780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlight_sugar/pseuds/starlight_sugar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hi, Jon, it’s Barb. So, uh, Miles - that’s my coworker, the other kindergarten teacher - he set something up with the shelter for the kids today? It was supposed to be a surprise for the kids, he set it up with someone who’s apparently sick today. And it’s - we really want to do this, so can you just call me when you get this and we can figure it out. Okay, thanks, bye.”</p><p>(Or: the one where Jon is a vet, Miles is a kindergarten teacher, and they call this puppy love.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	this wild life

**Author's Note:**

  * For [marquis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marquis/gifts).



> This is a fictional story involving fictional likenesses of real people. Rooster Teeth does not have my permission to use any portion of my work in their content. This fic was written prior to Arryn's request to not be shipped and remains unedited for the time being for archiving purposes.

Jon wakes up on Friday to two missed calls and five texts.

As soon as his eyes are open and his brain is awake enough to tell him that yes, that’s actually what his phone says, he sits bolt upright in bed. He’s sure nothing’s actually wrong, and maybe for someone busier than him this is a normal way to wake up. But that’s more traffic than his phone normally gets overnight, and his heart is pounding as he hits play on the first voicemail.

“Hi, Jon,” someone croaks, and Jon feels relief wash over him. It’s just Kyle. “So, uh, I’m definitely not going to be able to come to work today. I am super fucking sick and I’m pretty sure you guys’ll be fine without me, you just need someone to-” he breaks off coughing, and then retching. Jon feels a little queasy just listening to him. “Yeah, okay, hanging up now. Sorry.”

Jon settles back in bed. Fucking Kyle, giving him a heart attack first thing in the morning. But if he’s sick, that can’t be helped, and that voicemail isn’t a problem. The problem, then, is the second one.

“Hi, Jon, it’s Barb,” the recording says cheerfully. “So, uh, I don’t know if you knew this, but Miles - that’s my coworker at the school, the other kindergarten teacher - he set something up with the shelter for the kids today? It was supposed to be a surprise for the kids, he set it up with someone at the shelter who’s apparently sick. And it’s - we really want to do this, so can you just call me when you get this and we can figure it out. Okay, thanks, bye.”

The recording shuts off with a click, and Jon sighs. Kyle had mentioned something about that a couple weeks ago, involving the elementary school and a friend of his, and Jon had waved him off. And now he has no fucking clue what it was.

.

From: Kyle (5:03 AM)   
so like I said in the voicemail I don’t think I can come to work today

From: Kyle (5:05 AM)   
I am sick as all fuck and that’s not happening

From: Kyle (5:06 AM)   
please don’t freak out when you wake up it’s probably just food poisoning

From: Kyle (5:13 AM)   
I can already tell you’re freaking out so you should know Josh is with me right now

From: Kyle (5:14 AM)   
my big strong boyfriend is keeping me safe from the germs so you can chill

To: Kyle (7:31 AM)   
You chose the worst fucking day to get sick

From: Kyle (7:34 AM)   
whatever happened to “get well soon”

To: Kyle (7:35 AM)   
That too

To: Kyle (7:35 AM)   
What was this thing you were doing with the kindergarten classes??

From: Kyle (7:37 AM)   
oh shit right

From: Kyle (7:38 AM)   
they’ve been going over one letter of the alphabet per week and this week is P so I was going to bring in some puppies

To: Kyle (7:40 AM)   
That’s pretty smart actually

From: Kyle (7:41 AM)   
please don’t act so surprised

From: Kyle (7:46 AM)   
but really can someone cover this I don’t want to let down the kids

To: Kyle (7:48 AM)   
We’re not going to let the kids down don’t worry

.

“Kyle’s sick,” Jon announces as he walks into the shelter.

Adam, playing with one of the cats at the front desk, doesn’t look up, but Arryn looks dismayed. “Is he okay? Is he going to be coming to work today?”

“Yes and no, in that order. Food poisoning, he should be fine.”

“Ew, food poisoning,” Adam says in a monotone, but he glances up at Jon. “Wasn’t he doing something today? Do we need to cover that?”

Jon sighs. “Yeah, he had something lined up with the elementary school. I need to call someone and figure out what he was doing, but one of us is dealing with children today.”

“Nose goes,” Adam says, and whips a finger up to tap his nose at record-shattering speeds.

Jon frowns. “You don’t like kids?”

“Kids are great, they’re fine, but kids with animals sounds exhausting.”

“I’m with him,” Arryn adds. When Jon looks at her, she’s holding a finger to her nose too. “I know he’s grumpy this morning, but he’s not wrong.”

Jon looks back at Adam. “Why are you grumpy this morning? Did pretty-eyes not come in?”

A couple of weeks ago, a woman with incredibly pretty eyes had brought in a stray dog she found. It’d been a routine thing: Jon did the checkup, Adam helped her with the paperwork, and they welcomed a new dog to the shelter. What wasn’t routine was the fact that the woman had come back the next day, and the day, and every day since then. She said she was visiting the dog. Jon and Kyle are both pretty sure that she’s really visiting Adam.

“She came in,” Adam says, keeping his voice carefully neutral. “With her husband.”

Jon tries not to cringe. There goes that theory. “Oh.”

“He’s a nice guy,” Adam says conversationally, but his voice is a little tight. Almost like she can tell that he’s upset, the cat meows loudly and rubs her face against Adam’s hand. Adam’s face immediately melts into a smile. Not for the first time, Jon wonders if animals are secretly psychic.

“Anyways!” Arryn says loudly. “Jon, you’re going to an elementary school today, how do you feel about that?”

“Like I need to make a phone call,” Jon sighs. “Can you guys hold down the fort for a couple minutes while I do that?”

“No,” Adam says, which Jon takes as his cue to leave and call Barbara. He makes his way towards the lone office in the back of the shelter, which is the most organized room in the whole place. That’d been Jon’s project, as soon as he got to the shelter. Kyle told him it was hopeless. He was wrong. It’s painstakingly organized, which Arryn had doubled down on as soon as she was hired.

As soon as he’s in the office he hits the redial button. Barbara answers on the first ring. “Jon, oh my god, listen, I need you-”

“Babs,” Jon says, fighting down a smile. “Slow down. Hi.”

Barbara audibly takes a deep breath. “Hi.”

“I understand that some puppies were going to visit you later today.”

“Yeah, that was the goal. Like I said, Miles was mostly the one who planned this. He said he knew someone who worked at the shelter?”

Jon nods, even though he knows she can’t see it. “Yeah, Kyle mentioned he was planning on taking some dogs out today. He didn’t really say what for.”

“Yeah, it was for us,” Barbara sighs. “P is for Puppy, and all that. I know you guys are a small group, and I understand if you can’t spare someone, but is there any way-”

“What time am I coming?”

Barbara goes silent for a couple of seconds. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure, I’m leaving two perfectly capable people in my place. And it’ll only be a couple of hours, right?”

“Yeah, it’d be in the afternoon. Our kids have lunch that ends at twelve-thirty, can you be there fifteen minutes before then?”

“Absolutely.”

“You’re a hero,” Barbara says with feeling. “I know Miles is going to think so too, he was so worried he wouldn’t be able to do this for the kids. Do you have any idea which dogs your coworker was going to bring?”

Jon runs through the list of shelter dogs in his head. Giving a kindergartener a puppy is a dangerous thing, so they’d want some of the more docile dogs. But not too docile, because a kindergartener could get bored with a quiet dog. It’s a thin line he’s going to walk here. “How many kids are there?”

“About thirty-five, between both of our classes.”

“Anyone allergic to dogs?”

“Nope, we’re good on that. Got parent permission and everything.”

“So we should have, what, six dogs?”

Barbara snorts. “You’re just casually going to bring six dogs?”

“Well,” Jon says. “Yeah.”

“You can do that?”

“I can absolutely do that,” he says, with a little more confidence than he feels. He’s pretty good with the dogs, but handling six puppies might be a little tricky. But he’ll make it happen. “I’ll see you in a few hours, okay? Go teach America’s future.”

“America’s future as learned from a Canadian,” Barbara mutters, but he can hear the smile in her voice. “Thank you so much, seriously, I owe you one. You’re going to make these kids’ day.”

“That’s me, the day-maker. I live to make days.”

“Sure you do.”

Jon grins. “Bye, Babs.”

“Bye, Jon,” Barbara says cheerfully, and hangs up.

Jon wanders back out to the front desk as he mentally combs through the list of dogs they have, and which ones are young enough to be considered puppies. “Hey, Adam, is there any risk of Butterball being adopted today?”

“Uh, yeah,” Adam says, and glances meaningfully at the guy standing in front of the desk that Jon totally failed to notice. “Jon, this is James, he’s looking into adopting Butterball literally right now. James, this is Jon, our in-house vet.”

James almost looks impressed as he shakes Jon’s hand. “You have an in-house vet?”

“Animals are in bad shape when they come in sometimes,” Jon explains. “And considering how many of our pets go to families with kids, it’s easier just to have a full-time vet on staff to make sure everything’s okay.” He’s also in charge of wrangling paperwork, sometimes, but that part isn’t nearly as interesting.

“Jon spent seven and a half years in school to work in a pet shelter in a strip mall,” Adam says, because he’s a fucking dick.

“I spent seven and a half years to do good and meet people,” Jon corrects him. “We meet all sorts of interesting people here. Lots of volunteers. People who bring in animals who get hurt.”

“Like my wife,” James says, which makes no sense until Adam catches Jon’s eye and mouths  _ pretty-eyes. _ James doesn’t notice. “She saved a dog a while ago, and then dragged me here, and now I like the dog, so we have to get him.”

Adam looks the slightest bit distraught, which Jon understands. If Butterball is adopted then there are no more pretty-eyes visits, husband or no.

“Well,” Jon says, “is this a joint adoption or a surprise one?”

“Oh, a surprise,” James says immediately. “She’s gonna come home, see a dog, and get all excited as soon as she’s done kicking my ass for not talking to her first.”

“You could just talk to her,” Adam points out.

“Nah,” James says. “Less fun.”

Jon raises his eyebrows. “Adam, if you want to visit Butterball, I can man the desk for a little while.”

Adam shoots to his feet so quickly he almost sways back and forth. “Yep, sounds good, thanks, Jon.”

“No problem,” Jon says, trying not to look terribly curious. Adam is acting an awful lot like he does around pretty-eyes, which is understandable because James also has pretty eyes. But James is also giving Adam a look that Jon isn’t even going to try and understand. he has his own shit to worry about. “Let me know if you need copies of any paperwork.”

“Will do,” Adam says as he slides out from behind the desk. “Let me take you back to the dogs?”

“It’s been so long, I might’ve forgotten how to get there,” James says.

Adam glances at Jon. “He was here this morning.”

“I figured,” Jon says dryly as he takes a seat behind the desk. “Tell Butterball I say hi.”

“Tell him yourself,” Adam says.

Jon ignores him, because he already has Twitter loaded on his phone. He can talk to the dog after he’s sorted out this kindergarten business.

.

To: Kyle (8:27 AM)   
Which dogs were you planning on taking?

From: Kyle (8:29 AM)   
Stop texting my boyfriend while he’s sick. --j

.

To: Josh (8:30 AM)   
Hey can you ask Kyle which dogs he was planning on taking

From: Josh (8:32 AM)   
Your loopholes to my rules are not welcome here Risinger

From: Josh (8:33 AM)   
Also, he’s asleep so I’ll get him to text you when he wakes up

To: Josh (8:34 AM)   
Thanks. A&A say get well soon

From: Josh (8:35 AM)   
Do they really?

To: Josh (8:37 AM)   
No, but it was implied

.

From: Kyle (10:48 AM)   
the list is literally on a notepad on the office desk

To: Kyle (10:51 AM)   
Why the fuck would I know that

To: Kyle (10:52 AM)   
Butterball can’t come, someone’s trying to adopt him

From: Kyle (10:55 AM)   
please tell me it’s pretty eyes and Adam is finally flirting with her

To: Kyle (10:56 AM)   
Close. It was her husband but he was definitely flirting with Adam too

From: Kyle (10:58 AM)   
huh

From: Kyle (10:58 AM)   
tell kovic i say to tap that

From: Kyle (10:59 AM)   
on second thought don’t. it’ll scare him.

.

Kyle, because he’s a gift to mankind, did actually leave a list of dogs to take to the elementary school. He even had a few backups listed. Jon resolves to bring him chicken soup tonight. He deserves it.

In the end it’s not wrangling seven fairly-calm puppies into a van that proves a problem. It’s getting those puppies out of the van and into the elementary school. Jon doesn’t think to ask about visitors’ passes until he has collars on two of the puppies and realizes that it may look strange to drive by an elementary school and see a guy in a blazer with a van full of puppies. Thankfully, blessedly, Barbara runs out of the school less than three minutes after he parks.

“Please help,” Jon calls as she gets closer. “There are so many.”

Barbara whistles as she looks at all the dogs. “You do not half-ass when it comes to making kids happy, do you?”

“If there’s anything not to half-ass, it’s this. How’re we going to do this?”

“Miles had some kind of plan in place with - Kyle?” She waits for Jon to nod before continuing. “All the kids are at lunch, so we’re going to bring the puppies to his room. And then when all the kids are done we’ll take them all to my room, you’re going to talk to them about dogs, and then we let them loose with the puppies for half an hour.”

“And I need some kind of a pass?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about that, Miles has one waiting for you in his room.”

“Thank god,” Jon mutters. “Am I going to get to meet the famous Miles? Do the kids call you guys by your first names now?”

“Nah, he’s Mr. Luna to them. He’s a good guy, you’re going to like him.”

Jon pauses in adjusting a collar to raise his eyebrows at Barbara. “I’m going to like him?”

Barbara frowns. “Yeah, he’s great, you’ll get along. What’s wrong with that?”

“You don’t normally say that, Babs.”

“You don’t normally get along with people. I’m saying he’s too likeable to not get along with.”

Jon doesn’t spend a lot of time with Barbara, which is what happens when you’re friends with a teacher, he thinks. That job sounds exhausting and he’s glad he doesn’t do it. But he knows her well enough to know that something’s up.

“Sure,” he says at last, because it’s easier than fighting that fight. “If you wanna take Scooter in, you can. We’re going to take them one at a time so they’re never alone out here.”

“Which one is Scooter?”

Jon taps Scooter on the head. Barbara scoops him up in her arms immediately and gives him a look of alarmingly sincere gratitude. “And Jon, thank you for doing this. Seriously, you’re going to make these kids so happy.”

Jon waves her off. “Go deliver a dog, Babs. Thank me later.”

“I will,” she promises as she heads off towards the school.

Jon looks in the trunk of the car at all the puppies. “Do you think she’s up to something?” Two of them bark back at him. He nods. “You’re right. She definitely is.”

.

After half a dozen trips, Barbara leads Jon into the school. Jon has a box of dog toys, and Barbara has a puppy and a determined look about her.  “We’ve got five minutes before lunch ends, so you and Miles can figure out what you want to say to the kids. Sound good?”

“I’ve done presentations at elementary schools before,” Jon points out, because he feels like he has to. “I’ve done presentations for your  _ class _ before.”

“Yeah, but that was V-is-for-vet. This is P-is-for-puppy.”

“The mechanics are pretty much the same.”

Barbara rolls her eyes. “God, okay, I’m just trying to make sure the kids like what you have to say. Don’t mind me, being a good friend.”

Jon snorts as they get inside the school. “So is this Miles guy new?”

“Yeah, it’s his first year. He taught at another school for a couple years. He knows what he’s doing.”

“More than the last guy?”

Barbara shudders, and Jon can’t help but grin. Barb’s previous kindergarten coworker had been expecting to babysit, not educate. Jon never met the guy, but he sounded like a real fucking tool. It’s good to hear that Miles, whoever he is, has a good head on his shoulders.

“Anything would’ve been better than the last guy,” Barbara says, “but yeah. He’s better than I thought the last guy would be, and I was expecting a lot. This is his room.”

Jon looks at from closed door to the box in his arms and back again. “Babs?”

“Yes, Jon.”

“How are we opening the door?”

“That’s a good question.”

Jon rolls his eyes, shifts the box to one arm, and frees one hand to open the door. “How have you been getting in and out this whole time?”

“Miles was in here, until we decided that we’d rather have someone in the room with the kids than with the dogs.”

Jon looks around the room. There are tables for the kids, but they’re all pushed into one corner, and there are blankets and pillows spread around the room. “Is this what it always looks like here?”

“No, normally it looks like an actual classroom, but he wanted maximum puppy comfiness.” Barbara goes over to where the six other puppies are waiting, in a makeshift kennel, and sets Peanut Butter down. They’re fenced off by what look like baby gates, not actual dog gates, but it’s the same effect. “I’m going to go relieve Miles of child-watching duty and give you guys a chance to talk.”

“Yeah, sure, sounds good,” Jon says. Barbara smiles at him and heads out of the room. Jon goes to the kennel, sets the box down, and drops to his knees to look at all of the dogs. “You guys have a big day ahead of you. You’re gonna meet some kids, it’s gonna be great. You all have to be good, though, okay? Be good. And be nice to the kids.”

“Oh, god, please be nice to the kids, they’re too sweet not to be nice to,” a new voice says.

Jon smiles. “The dogs are normally pretty good, but you have to lay down the law sometimes, you know?” He turns around to look at the newcomer and freezes immediately.

Miles - because this has to be Miles, something about this man screams kindergarten teacher - is tall. Miles is scruffy and wearing glasses and plaid, and Jon has the sheer luck of turning in time to catch his face crinkle up into a genuine smile. He is, in short, exactly Jon’s type.

Suddenly Barb’s “I think you’ll like him” from earlier makes a lot more sense.

Miles apparently doesn’t notice Jon’s minor crisis, because he’s too busy smiling at whatever joke Jon just made. “Oh, those puppies, they’re troublemakers,” he says, and Jon is suddenly, intensely aware of all the dog fur on his clothes and the fact that he probably smells like an animal shelter. Attractive man aside, he should be more presentable for kids. He probably looks like a total scrub. And now he’s staring and probably wrecking Miles’s first impression of him.

Luckily, some part of his brain wakes the fuck up, because Jon manages to stand back up. “Gotta keep an eye on them, especially when you give them to kids.”

Miles mock-shudders, but the smile returns almost immediately. “We’re gonna have a good time with that, right?”

“I sure hope so. I’m Jon, by the way. Risinger.” And he sticks out a hand, hoping he doesn’t look like as much of a robot as he feels like.

He must not, because Miles shakes his hand easily. “Mr. Luna to the kids, but you can call me Miles. And thank you for pinch-hitting like this, I know Kyle was worried he wouldn’t be able to get someone to fill in.”

“Oh, no problem,” Jon says, because it’s really not. And then, because he’s nosy: “How do you know Kyle?”

Miles’s grin comes back full-force. “Oh, we go back years. We did our undergrads together, fell out of touch, and then ran into each other in a grocery store in town.”

“Of all the gin joints in all the world?”

“Something like that, yeah.” Miles looks at the puppies. “That’s a lot of dogs.”

“I heard there are a lot of kids. They can take turns playing, right?”

“Oh, yeah, no problem. I know Barbara wants you to talk to the kids about dogs or something, do you know what you want to say?”

Jon shrugs. “I can just talk about being a vet for a while, kids like that.”

Miles glances at Jon in surprise. “You’re a vet?”

“That’s what my degree says, yep.”

“I thought you worked with the shelter.”

“Shelter vets are a thing, Mr. Luna.”

Slowly, a look of delight spreads across Miles’s face. “So does that make you Dr. Risinger?”

Jon shakes his head immediately. “In the technical sense only. You can just call me Jon.”

“Uh-huh,” Miles says, in a way that Jon knows means that he’s not going to be doing that. “Well, it’s time for the kids to start waking up, so you can head over to Babs and tell the kids all about being a doctor.”

“I’m not a doctor,” Jon says. He knows it’s a waste. “Brace for kid impact in ten minutes.”

“You’re being so dramatic, this is my job,” Miles complains, but his eyes are sparkling. Jon barely manages a smile before he leaves the room and goes next door to Barbara’s.

Barbara looks up at him as soon as the door opens. “All set?”

“All set,” Jon says, and plops into an adult-sized chair next to Barbara’s desk. “Do you have to pick the kids up from lunch?”

“They have older kids volunteer as lunch monitors.”

Jon nods. Elementary schools have a solid hierarchy in place.

“What do you think of Miles?” Barbara says suddenly, sounding incredibly casual.

Jon looks at her accusingly. “You know.”

Her lips twitch, which means she absolutely fucking knows. “Know what?”

Jon glares at her. “You didn’t tell me he was  _ hot, _ Babs.”

Barbara laughs out loud. “I thought I’d let you figure that part out on your own.”

“That’s cruel. Just cruel.”

Barbara’s smile widens, but before she can say anything, the door opens, and the kids start spilling into the room. She jumps to her feet. “Hi, everyone! Come on in and take a seat on the rug, it’s almost time for your after-lunch surprise.”

“Where’s Mr. Luna?” one of them asks, staring at Jon. “Did he change his hair during lunch?”

Jon isn’t sure how he could possibly be confused for Miles, because they’re different heights and different levels of attractiveness, but he shakes his head anyways. “I’m not Mr. Luna. I’m one of Ms. Dunkelman’s friends.”

“Miss Dunkelman has friends?” a different kid says, wide-eyed. “Friends who are  _ boys? _ ”

“I have lots of friends, Olivia,” Barbara says, making her way to the rug in question. Jon decides he should probably do the same, and he gets up to follow her. “Including my friend here today. And I can introduce him as soon as everyone’s on the rug and quieted down.”

It takes a couple minutes, but before long there are nearly three dozen children sitting in front of Jon, staring up at him wide-eyed.

Barbara claps her hands together. “Okay, everyone, this is my friend Dr. Risinger!”

“Oh, but please, call me Jon,” he says immediately.

“Dr. Jon,” Barbara amends. “Dr. Jon is a vet. Does anyone know what that is? Luke?”

The kid in the back, hand raised high, bounces in place. “It means he takes care of animals and makes ‘em better when they’re sick!”

“That’s right, Luke. Dr. Jon works at an animal shelter. That means he takes care of pets who don’t have homes yet. Do you like the shelter, Dr. Jon?”

“I love it,” Jon says with feeling. “We get to take care of all sorts of animals. Some of them are very lonely when they’re brought in in, but my friends at the shelter and I make sure that they find good families.”

Barbara looks out at the kids. “Have any of you ever been to a pet shelter?” A few of the kids raise their hands. “That’s good! Dr. Jon, do you like shelters more than pet stores?”

Jon taps his chin. “Hmm. Well, pet stores are pretty nice, but animal shelters are a place where you can meet old animals, or ones who could really use a new friend. And everyone who works there always really loves animals, so we always want to make sure our pets end up okay.”

“Do you like being a vet?”

“Oh, of course. It’s a lot of work sometimes, but I know that I’m helping pets, and that makes it all better. Who here wants to be a vet?”

Seven or eight hands go up, and Jon grins. “That’s awesome! We always need more people who want to help animals. Vets can do a lot of different things, and they can help a lot of different animals.”

Barbara, because she’s a genius, must know where he wants to take this, because she looks at Jon. “What kind of animals can a vet help?”

“Oh, all kinds. There are vets who help out zoo animals, like lions and cheetahs. There are ones who take care of farm animals, like cows and horses.”

“And chickens,” a voice says from the back.

Jon nods. “And chickens. But a lot of vets, like me, mostly just help out with cats and dogs, and sometimes smaller animals like hamsters.”

“We know a lot of animals, right?” Barbara says, and many of the kids nod in earnest. “Can anyone remind me what this week’s letter of the week is? Aiden, what’s our letter?”

“P,” Aiden says proudly.

“Dr. Jon, are there any animals that start with P?”

“Oh, lots,” Jon says. “I bet you guys can name some of them, right? Who knows an animal that starts with P?”

A girl in the front raises her hand, and Jon points at her. “Pigs!”

“That’s right! What else?”

A boy lifts a hand up, looking shy. “Pigeons?”

“Pigeons, absolutely! Any more?”

“Pizza,” someone says from the middle of the group, and the kids erupt into giggles. Barbara laughs too.

“You mean I could’ve been a pizza vet this whole time?” Jon says, mockingly outraged. “Miss Dunkelman, I could’ve spent all my time making pizza!”

Barbara only giggles harder at that, and Jon shakes his head. “What other animals start with P?”

“Puppies,” Aiden says brightly.

“Puppies!” Jon looks around the group of kids. “How many of you have dogs at home?”

About half of the kids raise their hands. Jon smiles. “How many of you want to meet a puppy?”

All the hands go up. Barbara steps forward. “Dr. Jon has a surprise for all of you, but you’re going to need to listen to him before we go see the surprise, okay? Quiet down.”

Jon waits for the kids to get a little quieter before he starts. “I brought some puppies from the shelter today, and they’re waiting in Mr. Luna’s room. Now, there’s not enough for everyone to play with a puppy all at once, so you’ll have to take turns. And you have to be gentle, because a lot of them are pretty small and young, and a couple might be a little scared. Does anyone have any questions?”

“Does everyone know how to pet a puppy?” Barbara says. All the kids nod. “Good. And I think we have some dog toys, right, Dr. Jon?”

“No fetch,” Jon says. “Don’t throw things in Mr. Luna’s room. If you have any questions about the puppies, come ask me or Miss Dunkelman or Mr. Luna. Is everyone ready?”

“Yeah!” the kids cheer.

“Line up at the door,” Barbara says, and the kids all scramble towards the door. “Remember your line leaders!”

A couple of kids make their way to the front, and Jon glances at Barbara. “They only get half an hour with the dogs?”

“They’re not going to need any more than that,” Barbara promises. “Probably.”

Jon shrugs. “I mean, I’m free all day, I can stay a little longer if you need to.”

“We’ll figure it out. We have a movie to show them afterwards.”

“Do you really? Is it educational?”

“No, but it’s a Friday and they’re not going to listen to anything else we have to say after puppies.”

“Probably,” Jon admits. “You ready to see the cutest thing ever?”

Barbara grins. “You think Miles is the cutest thing ever?”

Jon rolls his eyes so hard he almost strains something, he’s pretty sure. “I meant kids with puppies. You’re ridiculous.”

“Your crush is ridiculous,” Barbara says, but she goes to the door. “Is everyone in line? Are we all ready to go next door? Dr. Jon, are you ready?”

“I’m ready if everyone else is,” Jon says. All the kids look at him, at the back of the line, and he smiles. “Let’s go.”

Barbara opens the door. “Okay! Ava, can you knock on Mr. Luna’s door and see if he’s ready?”

The girl at the front of the line slips out the door, a couple of kids trailing behind her, and knocks on Miles’s door. Jon can hear it open, and he can hear the smile in Miles’s voice as he says “Hi there! Are you guys ready to make some friends?”

“Yeah!” Ava says, and the line starts moving a lot faster. Jon is the last one in Miles’s room, and Barbara closes the door behind him. The kennel is open, and there are kids clumped around puppies, all petting and cooing them.

“This is pretty cute,” Barbara murmurs.

“Kids and puppies, Babs,” Jon says. “You guys can play with them too, you know.”

“Oh,  _ heck _ yes,” Miles says, and drops to his knees to shuffle towards the nearest group of kids.

Barbara laughs. “I’m willing to supervise, but if you stand here long enough I bet one of the kids will want to play with a real life vet.”

Jon snorts. “Vets aren’t that exciting.”

It takes two minutes for a kid to prove Barbara right. Jon gets the feeling that she might know her kids better than he does.

.

From: Josh (1:17 PM)   
Kyle’s asleep again but I know he’s going to want to know how the dog thing went.

To: Josh (1:18 PM)   
It went great. He can have dibs on next year, though, it was his idea

From: Josh (1:20 PM)   
I think he had dibs whether you gave it to him or not.

.

There are, thankfully, no tears when Barbara announces that it’s puppy time over. A lot of the puppies get very enthusiastic kisses from kindergarteners, and one gets a prolonged hug from Miles, which Jon refuses to admit is absolutely goddamn adorable. All the puppies make it back in the kennel, looking tired but happy. Jon can relate.

“And what do we say to Dr. Jon for bringing in puppies?” Miles says, putting a hand to his ear.

“Thank you, Dr. Jon,” the kids all chorus.

Jon smiles. “Thank  _ you _ all for being so good for the puppies. It was really nice meeting you.”

“Okay, everyone,” Barbara says brightly. “Mr. Luna and Dr. Jon need to get the puppies back to the shelter now, so the rest of us are going to go and wash our hands, and then we’re going to have snack time and watch a movie!”

“Is it a P movie?” one of the kids asks.

“You’ll have to wait and see. Everyone line up!”

The kids dutifully shuffle into line. Barbara looks at Jon one last time and mouths  _ thank you, _ honest gratitude shining in her eyes.

Jon would like to say  _ I know what you’re doing, _ because he certainly didn’t ask for Miles to help him with puppy-wrangling, but that’s not really appropriate to do after sincere thanks, so he just gives her a thumbs-up.

Barbara’s smile widens, and her eyes flick to Miles for a quarter second before she mouths, quite clearly,  _ have fun. _

Jon is very close to flipping her off, but he decides that might not be appropriate around kindergarteners. Instead he just stands and smiles and lets the kids high-five him as they file out.

Miles closes the door behind him and lets out a deep sigh. “God, I love kids and dogs, but that was exhausting.”

Jon laughs before he can stop himself. “That was only forty minutes.”

“Exhausting,” Miles repeats. “How are we going to get the puppies where they’re going? And where are they going?”

“I have a van, they all fit in there.” Jon looks at the puppies critically. “Most of them are pretty tired out, so they don’t need one of us to watch them at all times. Sorry if they chewed up anything in your classroom, by the way.”

Miles waves him off. “Nah. They’re dogs, they chew things. We can make this two trips, right? If we take two each?”

“Yeah, sure,” Jon agrees. They both end up cradling two puppies in their arms apiece, and they carefully start towards the parking lot. “So I would call that a success.”

“It was a total success,” Miles says exuberantly. For all that he’s trying to say he’s exhausted, his eyes are dancing, and he looks pretty happy. “Really, thank you so much for doing that. I know Kyle was ready for it to be a him thing, and it’s so cool of you to step in at the last minute like that.”

“What was the other choice, disappointing a bunch of kids?”

“Well,” Miles says. “Yeah.”

Jon shakes his head. “I’m not enough of an asshole to disappoint kids.”

Miles elbows him, careful to avoid jostling the puppies. “You’re in an elementary school, Jonathan, watch your language.”

Jon glances behind him - no kids in the hall, and none as they emerge into the parking lot. “My name’s not Jonathan, and there’s nobody here.”

“It’s a matter of principle, not-Jonathan.” Miles pauses. “Dr. Not Jonathan. Dr. Jon-not-than?”

“Please stop,” Jon sighs as they get to the van. “Shit, my keys are in my pocket.”

Miles lowers his arms. “Put one of your puppies on mine.”

Jon raises his eyebrows but does what Miles says anyways, and it frees up a hand to get his keys. “So you’re new at the school, right? Have you always taught kindergarten?”

“I taught second grade for a while, but I think I do better with the younger kids.” Miles steps around to the back of the van as the trunk opens. “Do they just go in the back?”

“Yeah, the front is fenced off so they can’t climb up, just put them down.” Jon sets down his puppy and then picks up the one he settled in Miles’s arms. “The kids love you, you know. I could tell.”

“Yeah, they’re pretty great,” Miles says, unmistakable fondness in his voice as he sets the puppies down. Jon’s heart skips a beat. God, he has it bad, but this attractive man is talking about loving his job and children while holding puppies. He’s only human. 

“Let’s get the other ones.” Jon says, trying not to sound like a teenager mooning over his crush.

Miles, thankfully, just nods as Jon closes the trunk. “So what about you, actual veterinarian Dr. Risinger? How’d you end up at the shelter?”

Jon shrugs. “It just sort of happened. I had a friend who volunteered, and he said they needed a vet. I’m one of the only full-time employees there.”

“Are you non-profit?”

“Oh, of course. We make enough to pay me and everyone else there, that’s it.”

“So, uh, at risk of sounding like a douche, you’re not one of those PETA-type shelters, right?”

Jon frowns as Miles pushes the door to the school open. “PETA-type?”

“You know, the meat-is-murder, puppy-mills-are-evil shelters?”

“Puppy mills  _ are _ evil.”

Miles waves a hand in the air. “Okay, you’re right, bad example. But you’re not, like, militant about changing the world or anything?”

“Never,” Jon says. “First priority is the animals. Any kind of social change stuff is secondary.”

Miles nods. “I hear you there. I love animals but I’m not into PETA’s campaigns. They get a lot of stuff wrong, you know?”

“Are you a big animal rights guy?”

“Not really, but I’m a decent human. I figured I should make sure you guys are too.” Miles opens the door to his classroom. “Aw, Jon, they’re sleeping!”

“They do that sometimes,” Jon says dryly. He goes over to the kennel, scoops up a puppy, and puts her in the box of toys. “I’ll carry this if you can take the other two.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Miles leans over into the kennel and picks up the other two. “Are you a big shelter?”

“Not really, but we get a fair amount of traffic. Don’t you ever visit Kyle at work?”

“We work mostly the same hours, there’s not much of a chance.”

“We have volunteer hours on weekends,” Jon offers, before he can think twice about it. Miles shoots him a surprised look, and Jon shrugs carefully. “If you want to come and see for yourself, I mean. Ask Kyle about it, he organizes most of those.”

“I will,” Miles says. Jon is surprised by how sincere it is. “Man, poor Kyle had to miss out on a fun day. Do you think we can get him in for another day?”

“Have you done K for kittens yet?”

“No, we haven’t. We also haven’t done S for shelter.”

“There you guy, he can come for those.”

Miles gives Jon a sidelong glance as he pushes the door to the parking lot open. “We also haven’t done V for vet, if you want to come back.”

Jon blinks. “I mean, yeah, if you want. I had fun today.”

“Good,” Miles says, with a really surprising amount of warmth in it. “I mean, it looked like it, you’re a vet so you obviously like the dogs, but I’m glad you got along with the kids.”

“I’m glad the kids got along with me,” Jon admits as he shifts his box to one arm and starts fishing for his keys again. “And with the puppies.”

“Oh, they loved the puppies. I think Barb was taking pictures.”

“I would’ve been too.” Jon pops the trunk open and sets the box of toys inside. “It was pretty fucking cute.”

Miles laughs and puts his puppies in the trunk. “Totally worth setting up. Seriously, thank you for getting all this done.”

“Of course,” Jon says, and closes the trunk. “I’d offer to help you put your room back in order, but you know, leaving dogs in cars-”

“I know,” Miles says, and pauses. “Hey, Jon?”

“What’s up?”

“Can I take you out for dinner sometime?”

Jon blinks. “What, as a thank-you?”

Miles’s cheeks go slightly pink, which is, Jon thinks, absolutely fucking adorable. “I mean, we can call it that, but I was kind of thinking as a date.”

“Oh,” Jon says. He’s almost surprised by how his heart doesn’t speed up that much, and how his voice doesn’t crack. He swallows and hopes that it’ll keep not cracking. “Yeah, that sounds good. When were you thinking?”

“I’m free tonight?”

“Me too.”

Miles’s face lights up. “Awesome! I mean, yeah, you probably have to hit the road, but I’ll text you. I mean, I don’t have your number-”

Jon takes his phone out, gets to his contacts, and hands it to Miles. “Add yourself. I’ll text you.”

“At least one of us has their shit together,” Miles says, but he’s still beaming as he puts his number in. “Do you like Italian?”

“Love it.”

“Awesome. I know this great place we can go.” He hands Jon’s phone back. “I’ll see you tonight then?”

“Tonight,” Jon says, and then he’s not sure what else to say, so he just stands there, grinning up at Miles.

“Okay,” Miles says, and Jon can see him come to a decision just before he leans in and smacks a loud kiss on Jon’s cheek. “Text me!”

“I will,” Jon promises. He can’t stop smiling, even after Miles is back inside the school, even as he gets behind the wheel of the car.

.

From: Kyle (1:47 PM)   
i get sick for one day and you plan a date with my best friend??

To: Kyle (1:48 PM)   
Thanks for getting sick

From: Kyle (1:50 PM)   
fuck off

From: Kyle (1:50 PM)   
if you get flowers he’ll flip the fuck out, it’ll be great

.

Arryn comes out to help Jon with the puppies as soon as he’s parked outside. She’s beaming. “Guess what?”

“What?”

“Adam has a date tonight.”

“Hey, me too,” Jon says. “Who asked who out?”

Arryn gapes at him. “You have a  _ date? _ ”

“I’ll tell you about it in a minute. Is it pretty-eyes?”

“Yeah, she and her husband came in and told Adam in no uncertain terms they liked him. You found a date at an elementary school?”

Jon can’t stop himself from smiling. “Kyle’s friend, the kindergarten teacher? Turns out he’s pretty hot.”

Arryn laughs. “Maybe I should go to the elementary school and find myself a hot teacher.”

“Barb’s single,” Jon offers.

“Can you talk her into a blind date?”

“Probably. let’s get the dogs inside and we can talk.”

“Yeah, but first-” Arryn leans in and hugs Jon, only for a second, but he always loves Arryn hugs. They’re incredibly warm. “Congrats on the date.”

“It’s a first date, I don’t know if it’ll go well.”

“You wouldn’t go if you didn’t like him,” Arryn points out, incredibly reasonably. Jon knew there was a reason he liked her. “Come on, let’s bring the dogs in.”

.

To: Miles (2:04 PM)   
Hey, it’s Jon

To: Miles (2:07 PM)   
I’m assuming you’re still in school so just text me whenever you get these

To: Miles (2:30 PM)   
Can’t wait for tonight

From: Miles (3:51 PM)   
:D

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is actually a birthday present! So happy happy birthday to the incomparable [Tam,](http://mysblink.tumblr.com) who lets me talk all day about things I like whether they get what I'm saying or not and is my absolute favorite human in the world. Love you lots, Tam!
> 
> The title of this fic actually comes from a band who did a song called [Puppy Love.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_LfrKGZf8Q) If you want to discuss Jon, Miles, puppies, and fic-naming conventions, you can do so on [Tumblr](http://elysewillcms.tumblr.com) or [Twitter.](http://twitter.com/ezrabridgers) Thanks for reading!


End file.
